Automobile service tray



March 23, 1943., P. M. OLMAN 2,314,550

AUTOMOBILE SERVICE TRAY Filed Feb. 27, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l /6 v 0 /6w17; 1, W2,

/6o /6 v I /@4 /c i l /4 (fa v m INVENTOR.

Ware M O/mm,

WWI/77W ATTORNEY.

March 23, v 1943. P, M, OLMAN 2,314,550

AUTOMOBILE SERVICE TRAY Filed Feb. 27, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 INVENTOR..Pefer M O/mon.

BY %W7/M ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 23, 1943 UNI- TED S-TATESgJfATENT OFFICE 2,314,550AUTOMOBILE SERVIGE TRAY Peter M. 0lman,.Los;Angeles, Califi, assignor'of one-half to Julian L. Lesser Application February- 27, 1939, SerialNo. 258,749 7 Claims (01. 311-29 My invention relates in general toservice trays for automobiles, such as are used in drivewheel of the carforthe use and greater con}.-

venience of the driver.

In the past, it has been customary to attach a tray to the door ontheidrivers side of the car on the lower edge of the window at theapproximate height thereof; and .Iwhile this has been an improvementover the useof trays held in the'lap of the driver, the arrangement isstill very unsatisfactory. The height of the tray so attachedjis usuallysuch that it is nearly on a levelwith the drivers face, the tray isplaced so that it is diffi cult for the driver to use his left hand; andto use his right hand, he must reach over' the steering wheel andsometimes turnaround in. the seat. All this increases thepossibilitiesof spilling food,

drinks, and soforth on the tray or on the occupants of'the car.

It is a major object of my invention to provide an automobile servicetray which overcomes these.

disadvantages and provides a supportingsurface in front of the driverand at an elevation that'is convenient and comfortable to use.

It is a further object of my invention toprovide a tray which may bequickly and easily attached to the steering wheel of an automobile andas easily removed.

It is also an object. of my invention to provide such a tray which maybe easily levelledand.

then secured in place, so that it will not tilt or tip.

'These and other objects of. my invention will become apparent from thefollowingdescripti'on of a preferred and. a modified form of myinvention, and from the drawings illustrating those,

forms,,in which;

Fig. 1 is a front view of my preferred tray as it appears attachedlto asteering wheel,

Fig. 2 is a side. view of the tray shown inFig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a. plan view of the preferred formof tray shown. in Figs. 1.and 2,

Fig. 4 is a perspective exploded view of the under side of my preferredform of tray, showing,

the method of assembling the tray and hanger,

Fig. 5 is a front view of my preferred form of.

tray showing supplemental holding means attached to the. door of the.car,

Fig. 6 is a front view of a modifiedform of tray which may be adjusted.as to height,

Fig. 7 is a side view of said modified tray,

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of. the upright taken at 8-8 in Fig. 7,andshowing the method of'attaching the slidingm'ember'35,

Fig; 9 isa side view-of my modified form of tray as it appears attachedto the door of a car,

Fig. 10 is an end view of the modified form shown in Fig. 9, and

Fig. 11 is a plan view showing one manner in which both steering wheeland door supportsmay be incorporated in one tray.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1-4 thereof, thenumeral III indicates a hanger made of wire or other suitable materialadapted to be hooked over the top of a steering wheel II,. and supportsa tray I2 at its lower portion, while a knob I3 permits the tray to belevelled and then securedin place.

The hanger II] is preferably made of a single piece ofheavy wire bentinto a shape preferably similar to that shown in the drawings, whereinit is seen that a horizontal section I4 passes in back of the steeringWheel II, and holds a pair of uprights I5 and I51: in a definite spacedrelaand I6a; to provide alternate hook portions I6b,.

which when used, support the tray in a higher position than obtainedwhen hooks I6 and I6a are employed. The hook portions I611 also serve tokeep the hanger Ill away from the plane of the steering-wheel I I, sothat it willnot rest against the horn ring. when the alternate hookportions I651 are used, I prefer to provide outwardly-extendingshoulders IB'c just below the hook portions I6b.

At their lower extremities, the uprights I5 and Ma are preferably bentforward as at I! and Ma to form supporting means for. the tray I2;- andinmy preferred form, the supporting meanstakes the form of eyes I8 andI8a formed by bending the outer ends. of the forwardlyproj ecting member.I'! and Na around and back on themselves, and extending them. back to.the plane of the uprights I5 and I511. At this point, thewire may bebent downwardly and outwardly to form arms I9 and la which rest againstthe lower portion of the steering wheel. II. To prevent. any possibilityof. scratching, I prefer to cover the arms I9 and HM with some type ofpadding, such as rubber tubing or. the like, and to cover'the hooks, I6and Ifia and the horizontal member I4 with similar padding.

On the under side of the tray I2, I provide To accomplish this function.

suitable means for attaching the tray to the hanger, such, for example,as the boss 20 having a hole 2| passing lengthwise through it parallelto the major axis of the tray. A bolt 22 passes through the hole 2| andthe eyes I8 and |8a of the hanger l0, thus attaching the tray 2 to thehanger so that the tray may be rotated about the axis of the bolt. Ahandle or knob l3 screws on to the end of the bolt 22, and preferablyextends beyond the edge of the tray so that it may be easily adjusted bya waiter while the tray is installed in a car. A sleeve 23 surrounds thebolt 22 bearing against the knob |3 at its outer end and against the eyel8 at its inner end, so as to force the latter against its associatedface of the boss 20; and ,thisalso causes the head of the bolt to forcethe eye I861 against its associated face of the boss. The tray [2 isthus prevented from turning, by means of the friction grip of the eyesI8 and l8a; but in order to. make even more certain the holding power ofthe eyes, I prefer to place washers 24 and 24a between the eyes andtheir associated boss faces. The washers 24 and 2411 are held to theeyes l8 and Hit: or to the forwardly-extend-' ing arms I? and Na in anyconvenient manner, such as by projections from the washers bent aroundthe arms, so that the washers cannot rotate with respect to the axis ofthe eyes. The faces of the washers 24 and 24a bearing against theboss2|! are preferably corrugated or otherwise formed so as to provide agreater amount of friction between them and the bearing faces of theboss, which faces may also be corrugated.

1 In this way, when the knob |3 is tightened, a

positive grip prevents the tray l2 from tipping. In use, the waiter,standing outside the car, hooks the curved portions l6 and .l6a of thehanger Ill over the top of the steering wheel and allows the arms l9 and|9a at the lower end of the hanger to rest against the lower section ofthe steering wheel. In this way, the hanger II] is rigidly supported bythe wheel II, and since the uprights l5 and I51; and their associateddouble curved portions l6 and |6a are separated a distance apart, thereis no danger of tray 2, when weighted at one end, tipping the hanger sothat it slips off the wheel. Also, the horizontal section 4 of thehanger lo'prevents the uprights l5 and I50, from spreading apart toallow the hanger to slip off the wheel. Whenthe hanger l0 has thus beenplaced on the wheel H, the waiter loosens the handle or knob l3, levelsthe tray I2, and then tightens the handle, securing the tray in place,this adjustment being necessary to take ,care of the variation in theangle which steering wheels ofdifferent cars make with the horizontal.If it is feared that the steering wheel may be turned while the tray ison it, an arm 25, which is attached to one of the uprights l5, may beprovided to clamp to the door of the car and keep the tray from turning.As illustrated in Fig. 5, the arm 25 is slidably attached to the"upright I5 by means of a sliding block 2B which" may be attached to theupright 5 by means of a sliding block 26 which may be adjusted to permit the arm to be attached to doors of various heights, and the arm ispreferably removable from the block so that it may be left off when notneeded. The arm 25 should be extensible to allow for the variousdistances from the steering wheel to the door, and I prefer toaccomplish this by forming the arm in two pieces 25a and 2512 heldtogether by sleeves 21 and 2.7a;

The outer end of the member 25b is bent downwardly, and a similar member28 is attached to the arm 25 so that the bent end of the member 25b maybe hooked over the outside of the car door and the member 28 thentightened up against the inside of the door by sliding it in sleeve 28a.In this way, the arm 25 is securely held to the door and prevents thehanger H! from rotating and spilling the articles on the tray I2.Padding of rubber tubing or other suitable material on the members 25band 28 protects the finish of the car.

In Figs. 6-11, I have shown a modified form of my invention in which theheight of the tray is adjustable. In this form, an upright column 38,preferably'made of an H column or comparable shape, has a curved member3| attached to it near its upper end. This curved member the upright 30.Attached near the lower end of the upright "30, outwardly anddownwardly-extending arms 34 and 34a rest. against the wheel II and holdthe upright away from the plane of the wheel. Both the curved member 3|and the arms 34 and 34a are preferably covered with suitable padding,such as rubber tubing, which prevents them from scratching the wheel andfrom slipping; and, for reasons which will be apparent later, it isadvisable that both beattached to the rear flange of the upright 30.

Slidably attached to the front flange of the member 30 is a supportingmember 35 which carries a tray 2 having an adjusting knob l3 to levelit. The supporting member 35 is provided with fingers 36 and 36a whichfit around the front flange of the upright 30 and friction-' ally holdthe supporting member in position by reason of the turning momentdeveloped besupporting member 35 slid to any desired location, where,upon releasing the tray or arm, the supporting member willbefrictionally held 'In addition, it maybe desirable to provide notchesor teeth bu the upright 30, or other suitable holding means, to preventany possibility of 'the trays sliding downward if accidentally hit bythe occupant of the car.

On the underside of the tray |2,-webs 38"and 38a or other suitablereinforcing members extend downwardly and inwardly toward the center ofthe tray and are provided with opposed bearing surfaces 39 and 39a whichabut against opposite faces of the supporting arm 31. A bolt 40',passing through the bearing surfaces and the supporting arm 3|, providesan axis about which the tray may turn; and a knurled knob l3 is carriedby an elon ated sleeve 4| which fits over the bolt 40. The knob |3 isinternally threaded to engage the threads of the bolt 40, and thusprovides means for clamping the tray at any desired angle by forcing thesleeve 4| against the bearing plate 39. A bracket 42 may be desirable tosupport the sleeve 4| near its outer end; and the bottom of the upright3|] should be provided with means, such as a cap 43, to eliminate anypossibility of the supporting member 35 slipping oii the upright andinto the drivers lap.

I prefer to form the curved member 3| so that it may also be hooked overthe ledge of a car window, whereby the same hanger may be used tosupport a tray from the door. Such an arrangement is shown in Figs. 9and 10, wherein a tray [2 is provided with an end support G consistingof a supporting arm 5! similar to the arm 3'! previously described,carried by a sliding block 52 similar to the sliding block 35. Webs 53and 53a; strengthen the tray 12 and provide means for rotatablyattaching the arm 5% to the tray in a manner similar to that previouslydescribed; and a knurled knob or handle it, which tightens a bolt 54passing through the arm 5i and webs 53 and 530., permits the tray to belevelled.

I have shown the modified form of hanger used with two styles of trays,i. e., for steering wheel and door mounting, respectively, which may beslipped on and off the upright 36 at its upper end; but it will beapparent that a single tray having both connecting means, as shown inFig. 11, may be used when a universal tray is desired. The upper end ofthe upright 3B, being uncapped and ofiering no other restriction to theremoval of the tray, permits the waiter to intepchange trays quickly andeasily; and this, combined with the choice of steering wheel or doormounting, provides a simple tray and mounting device which may be usedin all cars. When in the claims I use the phrase generally rectangularlyshaped tray it is to be understood that I mean to indicate that one ofthe major axes of the tray is longer than the other, though the trayneed not have straight sides.

While I have shown and described a preferred and a modified form of myautomobile service tray, it will be apparent that minor variations maybe made which in no way depart from the essence or spirit of myinvention, as defined in the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A service tray assembly for automobiles which includes: a tray; ahanger for said trayadapted to hook over the steering wheel of anautomobile, whichincludes a pair of spaced uprights each having at itsupper end a rearwardly-extending portion, a downwardly-concave portion,a second downwardly-concave portion, and a horizontal portion connectingthe upper ends of said uprights and holding them in spaced relationship,whereby said hanger may be hooked over said steering wheel in either ofsaid downwardly-concave portions; means for attaching said tray to saidhanger; and means for levelling and holding said tray in a desiredangular position.

2. A device as described in claim 1 in which said seconddownwardly-concave portions are displaced upwardly and rearwardly fromsaid first downwardly-concave portions.

3. A device as described in claim 1 in which said seconddownwardly-concave portions are displaced upwardly and rearwardly fromsaid first downwardly-concave portions, and in which said attachingmeans includes a forwardly-extending arm attached to said hanger androtatably connected to a boss on the under side of said tray, and saidlevelling means includes a screw capable of frictionally clamping saidarm to said boss.

4. In an automobile service tray assembly, the combination comprising ahorizontally disposed tray, a pair of upwardly extending spacedapartarms connected at their lower ends with and supporting said tray andhaving their upper ends provided with means to hook over a steeringwheel of an automobile above its center, one arm lying to one side ofsaid center and the other lying to the other side of said center, saidtray assembly having means to rest on the wheel below its center, saidlast named means and hook means arranged to prevent relative rotation ofsaid wheel and tray, and means operatively connected with one of saidarms and engaging a fixed part of the automobile for holding the trayand wheel as a unit against turning accidentally about the axis of thesteering wheel.

5. A service tray assembly for automobiles, which includes: a tray; ahanger for said tray adapted to hook over the steering wheel of anautomobile, which includes a pair of spaced uprights each having at itsupper end a rearwardly-extending portion, a downwardly-concave portion,and a second downwardly-concave portion, whereby said hanger may behooked over said steering wheel in either of said downwardly-concaveportions; and means attaching said tray to said hanger.

6. In an automobile service tray assembly, the combination comprising ahorizontally disposed tray, a pair of upwardly extending spaced-apartarms connected at their lower ends with and supporting said tray andhaving their upper ends provided with means to hook over a steeringwheel of an automobile above its center, one arm lying to one side ofsaid center and the other lying to the other side of said center, saidtray assembly having means to rest on the wheel below its center, saidlast-named means and hook means arranged to prevent relative rotation ofsaid wheel and tray, and means operatively connected with said trayassembly and engaging a fixed part of the automobile for holding thetray and wheel as a unit against turning accidentally about the axis ofthe steering wheel.

'7. In an automobile service tray assembly, the combination comprising ahorizontally disposed tray, generally vertically disposed hanger meansconnected at its lower end with and supporting said tray and having itsupper end provided with a pair of spaced hooks adapted to hook over asteering wheel of an automobile above its center, one of said hookslying to one side of said center and the other lying to the other sideof said center, said tray assembly having means to rest on the wheelbelow its center, said last-named means and said hook means arranged toprevent relative rotation of said wheel and tray, and means operativelyconnected with said tray assembly and engaging a fixed part of theautomobile for holding the tray and wheel as a unit against turningaccidentally about the axis of the steering wheel.

PETER M. OLMAN.

